Tufting machine



J. M. GLAD|5H TUFTING MACHINE May 16, 1933;

Filed Jan-z 21, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 21, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 R O T N E V m May 16, 1933. i J. M. GLADISH 1,909,531

TUFTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 21, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOI? Patented May 16, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN MILTON GL ADISH, 0F CHAT'L'ANOOGA, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOB TO VALWLY BUG MILLS, INCORPORATE), OF LA GRANGE, GEORGIA, A CORPORATION OF GEORGIA TUF'LIN G MACHINE Application filed January 21, 1980. Serial No. 422,322.

This invention relates to tufting machines and has for its object to maintain a higherthe parts and to the feed dog lifting the" presser foot oflthe work as the feed dog presses down against the work. This raising of the presserfoot at higih speeds permits the work to be raised an prevents the tufts being of as uniform length as is the case at low speeds.

Below the work table the looper and cutter support, especially in the large size 'multineedle machines, possesses a substantial inertia at high speeds. Its longitudinal, lateral, and vertical movements at nearly the same time result in the many connections and bell crank levers. etc. through which some of the motions are .transmited becoming loose and flexing and thus contributmg' to non-uniformity of tufts athigh speeds.

According to this invention the mechanism both above and below the work support has been improved so that the new constructions cooperate to produce the novel result of greater uniformity and tuft length forma-. tion at both high and low speeds.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is an end view of the presser foot and feed dog actuating mechanism with the feed dog raised above the presser foot. I

Fig. 2 shows the feed dog in operative position below the presser foot.

Fig. 3 is a simplified plan view of some of the parts below the work table.

Fig. 4 is an elevation partly in section of the device of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail showing the mechanism for raising and lowering the looper support.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the lever 610 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an end elevation partly in section showing the mechanism for controlling the height of the work table.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail of one of the abutment-s against which the strand grippers engage.

Fig. 9' is a top plan view illustrating one type of work which this invention is readily adapted to produce.

Fig. 10 shows an elevation of the work shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 shows the grippers holding the strand against the abutment.

To facilitate an understanding of the present invention, where numerals below 600 are used they designate parts which are at least functionally similar to correspondingly number'ed parts in said prior application S. N. 290,977. I

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings,

the yieldab e support 311 carries the presser foot 451 on its lower end portion and also carries a block 320 in which is mounted the mechanism for actuating the feeddog 335.

This mechanism includes the eccentric rod 327 which rotates the crank arm 328 to raise and lower the actuating link 329 while the eccentric arm 338 oscillates thecrank arm 341 and the link 344 in such manner that the feed dog is moved to feed the work through the machine.

Unlike the prior constructions the presser foot 451 is pivoted at 600 to the yieldable supporting member 311 and is oscillated slightly about this pivot by the eccentric rod 601 which is rigidly fixed to the rear of the presser foot (and not pivotally secured thereto). The upper end of the eccentricrod 601 is free to slide in the guide 607 so that it is the movement in this end of the eccentric rod to the right and left which is efiective in oscillating the presser foot slightly and substantially opposite in phase to the raising and lowering of the feed dog. Pressure downwardly through link 329 is transmitted by the feed dog 335 to the work. Since the work is sub stantially rigidly supported on the work table this downward pressure causes an upward thrust'in the block 320 and the support 311 to yield against its springs (not shown).

This upward thrust tending to lift the presser foot has been such that the inertia of parts would cause the presser foot to stay ed the goods at very high speeds and it is to contemplates overcoming the danger of the goods catching in the serrations in the bot tom of the feed dog when the presser foot is 115 raised from the work and the work is inserted or removed from the machine. In order to accomplish this result automatic means is provided such that when the presser foot is raised old the goods in the usual manner by 2o raising the yieldable support 311 the feed dog is simultaneously raised above the presser foot so that there will he no danger of the feed dog projecting below the presser foot and accidentally catching the goods to tear or pull out any of the previous stitches or tufts. This automatic mechanism includes a pin 602 secured to the eccentric rod 327 and carrying a roller which fits within the slot 663 of the lever said slot being of the so general shape indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. The lever 604i is secured to the shaft 322 by a set screw 605 or other convenient means so that motion of the eccentric rod oscillates crank arm 328 in the usual manner.-

35 Loosely mounted on the shaft 322 is the member 606 which constitutes a guide for the lower end of the eccentric rod 327. The upper end of the eccentric rod 327 is fixed to the eccentric at 326A and not slidahly mount- 46 ed therein as is the rod 338 on the eccentric 337. As was stamd before, roclning of the eccentric rod 327 to the ri ht and left raises and lowem the feed dog through the crank arm 328 and link 329., the motion from the rod 327 being trtted to the shaft 322 through the pin and roller 662 engaged in the slot 663; of the lever 66%, thus can the lever 66% to oscillate shaft 322. When the presser foot and its yieldahle support 311 are raised off the goods the shaft 322 is liliewise raised, since this shaft is carried by the block 320 secured to the support 311. litaising the shaft 322 causm the pin and roller 602 to he moved further into the slot 663 and into the angularly disposed portion of the slot rm shown in Fig. l with the result that the raising movement rotates the shaft 322 more sharply than it otherwise would and in the clockwise direction to raise the feed dog ahove the presser foot as shown in Fig.

It so that there will he no likelihood of the goods becoming accidentally engaged or caught in the feed dog.

In Fig. 3 the looper 192 and its support at 1.5a and the abutment and gripper carrier 123 are shown as adapted for a single needle but it will he understood that these are readily adapted for any number of needles. As is customary the looper support 154 is given a motion longitudinally of itself by the conport 154 has a motion toward and from the operator. The motion toward and from the operator as well as the motion up and down ,is not transmitted by the large number of parts that were previously necessary and not only does this invention reduce the total number of parts but it lessens the likelihood of lost motion and flexure afiecting tuft length uniformity at high speeds. In the present improvement the support 154 as well as member 123 are made of a hardened and tempered aluminum alloy better adapted for high speed action without excessive wear than are the prior heavier constructions. To raise and lower support 154 the main shafts are used although these are farther separated and placed below the ends of the looper support as shown in Fig. 5. Secured on the shaft 94 is the lever 610 made in two parts as shown in Fig. 6 and arranged to snugly engage the hall 611 at the lower end of connecting li 612 which is provided at its upper end with another hall 613 snugly fitted between the housings 614: and 615. These hall and socket joints are preferably of the type adapted to give minimum lost-motion and wear. At the other end of the looper support is a similar hall joint and at the ends of the connecting rods 155 and 156 are slar hall and socket joints 616 and 617.

In Figs; 3 and t it will be seen that below the member 123 is mounted an integral projection 618 arranged at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of said member and of the general shape illustrated. Snugly fitted in the projection 618 is the sleeve 619 which carries at its outer end the guide 620 in the form of a rectangular disc perforated to re ceive the stem 621 fitting within the sleeve 619 and carrying at its outer end the guide 622 of similar shape to the guide 626. A set screw or other means may firmly position the sleeve and stem within the projection 618 so that the guides are rigidly fined far enough. apart to allow the sliding lit for the guide plate member 623 which is an integral projection helow the looper support 154:. This plate 623 which slides hetwecn the guides 620 and 622 is recessed to allow the desired endwim and vertical movement around the stem 621. Motion of the member 123 for ward and backward is imparted in the usual manner by the shafts 121 and 122. This forward and backward movement is transmitted to the guides and from the guides 620 and 622 to the plate 623 and the looper support 154.

Longitudinal motion is imparted to the looper support 154 by the connecting rods 155 and 156 and thus imparts angular movement to the looper support along the guides 620 and 622. This construction guides more accurately the looper support and the loopers and cutters than do a plurality of bell crank levers 148, etc. in the prior construction.

As before, the member 123 carries a gripper abutment 177, there being an abutment for each needle and likewise two grippers 182 and 184 as shown in Fig. 3 for each needle located and actuated in substantially the same manner as before, the grippers being mounted on concentric shafts 624 and provided at their ends remote from the grippers with separate actuating means 185 and 187. Each actuating means comprises a connection as before extending from the actuat ing members 160 and 165 up to the concentric shafts so that the grippers are rocked as these actuating members 160 and 165 are shifted. In the present case the connecting rods between the concentric shafts 624 and the slidable actuating members 160 and 165 should be slightly yieldable or flexible for the reason that it is dificult otherwise to obtain such precision that each gripper engages its strand with the same pressure. If these connections between the shiftable connections 160 and 165 are made slightly yieldable or flexible the desired result of having the grippers all engage their respective strands with the same degree of clamping action, is more readily attained.

Another manner in which the present con-- struction substantially simplifies the earlier construction is in the means for lowering and raising the work support to control the length of tufts. Instead of havinga large number of levers and shafts, the present invention contemplates a shaft 625 extending along the machine and adapted to be rocked by some lever located above or below the work support which may or may not be connected with the means for controlling the length of loops on the upper side'of the work, as was ..the case in the prior machine of the aforementioned application. As shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 7 extending from the shaft 625 are a pair of lever arms 626 at the outer ends of which are pivotally con-' nected links 627 which are preferably connected at 628 to the slidable wedge members 629,each member 629 having two wedge surfaces as shown in F ig. 7. These wedges slide through recesses in the guide blocks 633 and engage the.-"slotted heads 630 on the stems 251 which support the work table. A connection 632 closes the mouth of each opening receiv? ing the head 630. Spring 631 engages the closure 632 and the heads 630 and maintains In Fig. 8 is shown an improved form of abutment member 177 against which a pair of gripping members of the usual shape engage to hold the strand. These abutments are located in the same osition on the member 123 as before and are attached only slightly different, such for example as .having a hole 634 through which passes appropriate connecting means for attaching the abutment 177 to the member .123. As before the portion 17 7C is engaged by one gripper and the portion 183 is engaged by the other gripper but with this improved abutment the abutment surfaces are each provided with a groove of V-shaped cross section as illustrated, so that the strand may be more strongly gripped on the edges of these grooves and firmly held. As before, the abutment member is provided with a recess 177A to allow passage of the adjacent looping I'nember and the slope 177E acts as a needle guide. While not shown this abutment member may have the additional recess 17 7 B of the former abutment.

In Figs. 9 and 10 is illustrated the new type of work which this machine is especially adapted to provide the numeral 635 designating one row of tufts while other rows are desi nated by 636 anl 637, each row having the ength of tufts changing in the manner illustrated. Where the tufts are long they spread out to a greater width and give the appearance illustrated in Fig. 9, especially after laundering, while'that portion of each 110W of tufts in which the tuft lengthis short does not spread out to the same extent and for this reason both the plan and elevation of the tuft rows possess a wavy sheet.

In Fig. 9 the tuft rows 636 between the rows 635 and 637 which. were previously stitched on the first passage of the goods through the machine are so adjusted that these intermediate rows are substantially 180 degrees out of phase with the undulations of the first rows. Many other effects may be produced where some mechanism is provided for readily or automatically rotating shaft 625 to control the tuft lengths.

Figure 11 shows the grippers 182 and 184 which are shown in Figure 3, these grippers being of the same sort shown and described in the prior application Ser. No. 290,977 referred to above. The abutment 177 shown inFigure 8 is unlike the abutment of said prior application by the provision of grooves into'which the strand may be par tially forced by the grippers so that a better gripping action is provided on the edges of these V grooves in the face of the abutment.

By having a Jacquard or other automatic mechanism operate a control lever, not shown, on the shaft 625, a variety of designs may be produced with variations in tuft length and pleasing efiects are also attainable where such an automatic mechanism to control tuft lengths cooperates with some automatic mechanism for controlling the selective operation of the needles in the attainment of various shapes and colored patterns.

ll claim:

1. A multi-needle tufting machine having a work table, a movable support carrying a number of loopers on one side of the work table and on the other side of the table a presser toot mechanism and feed mechanism, and ball and socket hearing means for actuating said looper support with at least two motions.

2. A multi-needle tufting machine having a work table, a movable support carrying a number of loopers on one side of the work table and on the other side of the table a presser foot mechanism and feed mechanism, means for actuating said looper support longitudinally of itself, laterally, and up an down, angularly disposed guides along which said looper support moves and hall hearing means for imparting a thrust to said loopler support at an acute angle to said 3. A tufting machine comprising a needle, actuating mechanism therefor, a work support, means'for feeding the work through the machine, a looper on the opposite side of the work support from that on which the needle is mounted. a support for said looper. mechanism for giving said looper support motions toward and from said needle and toward and from said work support and ball and socket connections hetween said looper support and its actuating mechanism and through which looth of said motions are transmitted to said looper support.

4. A tutting machine comprising a needle, actuating mechanism therefor, a work support. means for feeding the work through the machine, a looper on the opposite side of the work support from that on which the needle is mounted, and hall and socket hearing connections for imparting motions tosaid looper support longitudinally and transversely oil the needle.

5. A tutting machine comprising a needle, actuating mechanism therefor, a work support, means for feeding the work through the machine, a looper on the opposite side of the work support from that on which the needle is mounted, and a guide engaging the looper support to control its direction of motion toward and from said needle and transversely of the needle path, and means for moving said support along said guide longitudinally of the needle, the longitudinal movement of the looper toward and from the needle taking place along said guide.

6. A tufting machine comprislng a needle,

sup-

actuating mechanism therefor, a work port, means for feeding the work through the machine, a looper on the opposite side of the work support from that on which the needle is mounted, a guide engaging the looper support to control its direction of motion toward and from said needle and transversely of the needle path, and means for simultaneously moving said support and guide in the general direction of work travel, the longitudinal movement of the looper toward and from the needle taking place along said guide.

7. A tutting machine comprising a needle,

actuating mechanism therefor, a work support, means for feeding the work through the machine, a looper on the opposite s1de of the work support from that on which the needle is mounted, a guide engaging the looper support to control its direction of motion toward and from said needle, a needle guide, a strand gripper and a supporting member & common to said looper guide, needle guide and gripper.

8. A tufting machine comprising a needle, actuating mechanism theretor,a work support, means for feeding the work through the machine, a looper on the oppositeside ot the work support from that on which the needle is mounted, a guide engaging the looper support to control its direction of motion toward and from said needle, means for applying torce at a small angle to said guide for moving said sup ort along the guide, said force being transmitted through a ball and socket connection to said looper support, and said looper support being of an aluminum alloy for high speed operation.

'9. A tufting machine comprising a needle, actuating mechanism therefor, a work support, means for feeding the work through themachine, a looper on the opposite side of the work support from that on which the needle is mounted, a strand gripper rotatable adjacent said looper to engage at least one side of a loop, meat is tor cuttmg said loop, means for actuating said gripper which means includes a shaft on which the gripper rocks, a yieldahleextension on said shaft and mechanism to actuate said extension to rotate the gripper.

10. A tutting machine comprising at least one strand gripper for each needle, a support tor s'ai gripper and on which it oscillates, a rocking shaft for said gripper, a yieldahle arm secured to said shaft for operating said gripper and a member for actuating said arm. L

ll. A tutting machine comprising a needle, actuating mechahism therefor, a work support, means for feeding the work to the machine, a looper, aistrand gripper, and an moassr abutment against which the gripper presses to hold the strand the faces of said gripper and the abutment eing shaped to coact and cause bending and unequal compression of the strand between them p I 12. A tufting machine comprising a nee- 1 dle, actuating means therefor, a work sup- 1 port, tuft-forming means, means for adjusting the height of the work support which '10 means includes wedges on which said support is mounted, and mechanism f r moving said wedges.

13. A tufting machine comprising a needle, actuating mechanism therefor, 22. work support, means for feeding the work through the machine, a looper, a looper support,,loop-' er support guide means, means for moving the looper into a loop and also away from the needle actuating mechanism, both of said last mentioned movements taking place along said looper guide means, and mecha-. nism for moving the looper and guide means back and forth in the general direction of work travel whereby the looper has a move- 'ment in three directions each at an angle to the others. r 14. A tufting machine comprising a needle, actuating mechanism therefor, a work support, means for feeding the work through the machine, a looper, looper support, looper support guide means, means for moving the looper into a loop and also away from the needle actuating mechanism, said guide means being stationary with respect to both of said last mentioned movements of the looper, and means for moving said guide means transversely of the needle travel and at an angle to the movement, of the looper into a loop. 15. A tufting machine comprising a needle, actuating mechanism therefor, a work support, means for feeding the work through the machine, a looper, a looper sup ort, means for moving the looper in at least 1; ree directions each of which is at an angle to the; other direction of its movement, and a guide along whlch at least two of such looper support movements occur. a

JOHN M. GLADISH. 

